SVEEP - For Making Elections Inclusive

SVEEP - For Making Elections Inclusive

“We, the citizens of India, having abiding faith in democracy, hereby pledge to uphold the democratic traditions of our country and the dignity of free, fair and peaceful elections, and to vote in every election fearlessly and without being influenced by considerations of religion, race, caste, community, language or any inducement”.

- a pledge, which gained popularity among newly eligible voters in India during the past three years, changed the attitude of young India towards elections, thanks to SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation) initiatives by Election Commission of India (ECI).

Being a landmark initiative by ECI, SVEEP has stimulated every aspect of election processes to ensure enhanced voters’ participation in the polling. During the last three years, voter registration, especially among youth, has gone up from 10-15 percent to 30-35 percent and almost all the state assembly elections held since 2010, recorded high voter turnout with greater participation from youth and women.  

BACKGROUND

Voter registration and electorate education are central to the election management process. However, qualitatively and quantitatively voter participation in India is still far from the ideal of participatory democracy. There is lot of gap between what the voters ‘should know’ and what they ‘actually know’ in important areas like registration, Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC)/ identity proofs, Polling Station location, use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), timings of the poll, do’s & don’ts with regard to Model Code of Conduct, use of money/ muscle and liquor power by candidates or their associates to influence vulnerable sections of electorate. More so, as has been observed, voter awareness does not always convert into voters actually casting their vote. To achieve the objectives of increasing voter awareness and voter turnout the election commission has taken a major step in the form of Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral participation (SVEEP) programme to inform, educate, motivate and facilitate voters and in turn make Indian democracy more participative and meaningful.

TAKEOFF

With a sense of urgency to highlight the issue of low electoral awareness and low voter turnout issue, ECI chose the theme, “Greater Participation for a Stronger Democracy” for its Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2010. It is in same year the journey of the nation’s biggest voter participation programme - SVEEP - began with Bihar Assembly elections. In simple terms, SVEEP is a range of policy initiatives and activities intend to improve people’s participation in the electoral process. Since then it has been taking up activities to remove gaps in information, motivation and facilitation and in turn increase voter turnout in elections to Legislative Assemblies to many states. There were planned IEC (Information, Education and Communication) interventions in the Jharkhand elections of end-2009 and subsequently carried forward in the form of SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) in Bihar Assembly elections of 2010 and assembly elections of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and UT of Puducherry in 2011. This continued for the 5 State elections of UP, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur and again in the twin general elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in 2012 and elections to NE states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland in early 2013.

REVEALING THE OBSTACLES

Voters’ Behaviour Surveys were carried out as part of SVEEP. These surveys revealed the underlying reasons for under registration, problems in getting duplicate EPIC, correcting names on voter list and various information gaps and low voter turn-out. Moreover, the surveys also try to map the demographics of elector-segments with lower electoral participation.

TARGETED INTERVENTION

It was observed that the youth and women constitute a major part of the people who do not cast their vote. In order to improve participation of all sections of electorate, ECI decided to bridge the gap in information and motivation, and also simultaneously made interventions to make the process of enrolment - easier and convenient and the voting experience - people friendly. ECI also creatively engaged with people to enthuse them to join the electoral process.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation Wing formulates policies, lays down the framework, plans interventions and monitors implementation besides carrying out continuous discourse with voting publics, civil society groups and media. SVEEP comprise of a plethora of systematic interventions for Information, Motivation and Facilitation (IMF) measures to involve the people in the electoral process. They broadly include situation analysis, systematic planning and implementation of targeted interventions (on IMF model) based on the situation analysis, mid programme review and monitoring and end term review. The communication interventions include multi-media and inter-personal communication, physical events and innovative activities for mobilization of people/community and voter Facilitation. Realizing the intricacies in bringing out a behavioural change among people, ECI emphasized on social orientation and collaborative approach in the whole process of SVEEP.

Formulation of State and District level SVEEP plans

ECI also initiated some internal organizational changes in the state level and constituted state and district level core groups to coordinate and implement all SVEEP activities. The State Level Plans and District Level Plans are to be formulated for the whole year with intense sub plans for election period. The plans are to be in conformity with national framework, laid out by the Commission, but allowing for due flexibility and credibility at every level.

Collaborations

The Election Commission collaborated with educational institutions and youth organizations like NYKS, NSS, NCC to particularly tap the new voters in the age group of 18-19yrs, promote greater awareness amongst youth and students about electoral process and to seek their assistance in facilitating voter registration. It also collaborated with Central and State Government Departments like the departments of health, education, WCD, Cooperatives, Welfare etc., so that these departments can extend their existing infrastructure and manpower (field functionaries) for electoral education and outreach. Collaboration with Government and private media as well as Civil Society and credible NGOs for increasing people’s awareness regarding electoral participation has also helped in creating voter awareness.

In 2013 ECI signed a MoU with NLMA (National Literacy Mission Authority) after which electoral literacy has become a major component of the Sakshar Bharat Programme of the Government of India. ECI and UNDP also have an MoU in the field of Voter education. Campus Ambassadors have now been introduced (since December 2013) who would be a student in the campus and act as ambassador of the Commission and facilitate the SVEEP programme in the educational campuses. Now even private media houses and Corporates are joining in and extending support in the SVEEP programme of the ECI.

Facilitation as Part of Strategy of SVEEP

SVEEP  initiated new measures relate to  voter facilitation in areas of registration, issuing voter identity cards and suggests ways and means to make the election process voter friendly.  These initiatives include Voters’ Helplines in all districts, searching name in the Voter list through internet and SMS, Voters’ Facilitation Booths, Ideal Polling booths, EVM familarisation camps, Voter Slip, Expanding the I-Card basket i.e., making other identity proofs (apart from EPIC) as a valid proof for voting.

National Voters’ Day

In order to reach out the mass, ECI initiated a practice to celebrate the National Voters’ Day on its foundation day, 25th January, in 2011. It is considered to be a significant step among the various SVEEP initiatives. It is being observed every year with the objective of increasing enrolment of voters to make universal adult suffrage a complete reality. With the aim to give the younger generation a sense of responsible citizenship and to encourage them to exercise their new franchise, ECI felicitates all the newly eligible registered voters in over 8 lakh polling station areas as part of the National Voters’ Day observance. They are handed over their Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and a badge with the slogan “Proud to be a Voter-Ready to Vote”. They also take an oath to strengthen democracy by taking part in the elections. Since 2011 the National Voters Day is being celebrated with great enthusiasm across the country along with a series of outreach measures like symposiums, cycle rally, human chain, folk arts programmes, mini-marathon, competitions and awareness seminars.

Other measures

Identifying the ability of the popular icons to establish authentic connection with the masses, ECI appointed national and state icons from various fields to boost the awareness programme and motivate the voters. Former Indian President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, M S Dhoni, Saina Nehwal and M C Mary Kom are the national icons, besides many more celebrities are the state icons and involved in these SVEEP initiatives.   

Table 1: Comparison of polling percentage of the State Assembly elections held after 2010 to the previous ones

Sl. No.	State	Year of Election	Polling Percentage
			Male	Female	Total
1	Assam	2006	76.49	74.89	75.77
		2011	76.85	74.94	75.92
2	Bihar	2005	-	-	45.85
		2010	51.12	54.49	52.67
3	Goa	2007	69.70	70.30	70.51
		2012	78.86	84.57	81.73
4	Gujarat	2007	62.31	57.02	59.77
		2012	72.94	69.50	71.30
5	Himachal Pradesh	2007	68.36	74.01	71.61
		2012	69.39	76.20	72.69
6	Jharkhand	2004	---	---	57.03
		2009	59.13	54.53	56.96
7	Karnataka	2008	66.20	63.10	64.68
		2013	71.84	70.1	71.00
8	Kerala	2006	73.17	71.08	72.38
		2011	75.08	74.78	74.92
9	Manipur	2007	85.88	86.82	86.73
		2012	76.94	81.36	79.19
10	Meghalaya	2008	88.62	89.36	88.99
		2013	85.17	88.44	86.82
11	Nagaland	2013	89.09	91.33	90.19
		2008	85.99	86.39	86.19
12	Punjab	2007	75.36	75.47	75.45
		2012	77.58	78.90	78.20
13	Pondicherry	2006	84.48	86.29	86.00
		2011	83.97	86.97	85.52
14	Tamil Nadu	2006	72.41	68.75	70.82
		2011	77.53	78.51	78.01
15	Tripura	2008	90.74	91.72	91.22
		2013	90.73	92.94	91.82
16	Uttar Pradesh	2007	49.35	41.92	45.96
		2012	58.68	60.28	59.40
17	Uttarakhand	2007	58.95	59.45	59.45
		2012	64.41	68.12	66.17
18	West Bengal	2006	82.34	80.75	81.97
		2011	84.22	84.45	84.33
19	Rajasthan	2008	67.10	65.31	66.25
		2013	74.92	75.52	75.20
20	Chhattisgarh	2008	71.80	69.20	70.51
		2013	77.37	77.21	77.32
21	Delhi	2008	58.34	56.62	57.58
		2013	65.98	65.13	65.60
22	Madhya Pradesh	2008	72.30	65.91	69.28
		2013	73.95	70.11	72.66
23	Mizoram	2008	78.77	81.24	80.02
		2013	80.3	82.2	81.2

Media and non-media units, folk cultural groups, cable networks, marathons, rallies, human chains, exhibition, hoardings, posters, pamphlets, leaflets, cinema slides, street plays, magic shows are utilized with good effect.

ECI has also been getting enthusiastic support of a range of governmental and non-governmental organizations, civil society and media in enlisting citizen’s participation in the electoral process. In some states it has trained a band of volunteers who took the message to the masses.

Information at Your Fingertips!

One of the greatest advancements of the modern day technology is the penetration of internet into our life. Keeping pace with changing time, ECI revived its website to provide all kind of information and services to citizens in a hassle free manner. Social media is being used at district and state level for enhancing voter awareness and increasing voter turnout   increasing polling percentage. Most of the state chief electoral offices own face book pages for reaching out techno-savvy young voters. The facility for online registration of voters is the only system in India where one can get an identity card, i.e., Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) without visiting a government office. The website also provides various other services like ‘changing the demographic details online’, and ‘tracking one’s application online’. The success of this online system is evident from the figures coming from various states; around 40 percent of new voter in Kerala and about 30 percent in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have obtained the EPIC through this system.

SVEEP in a nutshell Voters’ Behaviour Survey Formulation of State and District level SVEEP plans Personnel for State level State and District level core groups Collaboration with Government departments Collaboration with CSOs, Media and organisations National Voters Day Identification of National and State Icons

The Way Forward

The objective of any voter education programme is to make relevant information available and accessible to public. If the campaign achieves universal coverage of the electorate it will be a great success for democracy. Under the banner of SVEEP, a series of outreach measures like marathons, rallies, processions, quiz competitions, film screening, declamation contests, street play, SMSes and helplines were conducted so far to promote voting. The gaps in the electoral process like youth disconnect, urban apathy and subdued ethical voting campaign are being filled by SVEEP activities while the areas like NRI registration, service voters low participation, migrant voters need more ECI interventions. ECI is constantly engaging to evolve programmes that can explore the in-depth correlation between the strength of an individual’s vote and their empowerment.

By PIB Election Cell team

For information of Past General Elections , Please visit PIB’s website www.pib.nic.in

Unprecedented Mindset against North Easterners (A Plan, Policy and Law Needed to End the Racial Discrimination)

Unprecedented Mindset against North Easterners

(A Plan, Policy and Law Needed to End the Racial Discrimination)

Unprecedented Mindset against North Easterners

(A Plan, Policy and Law Needed to End the Racial Discrimination)

By Madhu Chandra

The death of 19 years old Nido from Arunachal Pradesh at Delhi on 31^st January after shopkeepers have beaten and two girls from Manipur attacked at Kotla Mubarak following day, are the realities of ongoing discrimination to the people from North East at India’s national capital. The ruling government at Delhi changed and so the police heads, but the mindsets of the people and the law enforcing agents remain unchanged. The cry and the protest continue that the plight faced by the people of North Easterners will be heard and brought to the end once for all.

The research report of racial discrimination conducted by the Jamia University and published recently in the national news papers has revealed the unprecedented plights faced by the community in national capital. 81% of the North East communities living in Delhi and NCR confessed the discrimination from their fellow county men and women in colleges, universities, work and market places. This report synchronises with two other research reports done by North East Support Centre & Helpline in 2009, where 86% of North East people are discriminated and faced the sexual harassment. The second research on North East Migration and Challenges in Mega Cities reveals another reality of changing trend from sexual harassment to racial discrimination, which means, if you have mongoloid face, you will be discriminated and treated unequal with other fellow country men and women. Nido’s death is one of the realities of the new trend.

These research findings have also proved that nothing has changed the plight of racial discrimination and sexual attack on North East men and women, even after many assurances given by the Delhi and Union Government.

In most of the crimes like such as this, the role played by Delhi police is matter of worried and concern. To be very honest, the mindset of Delhi police, particularly those on the ground reality has not changed. They are racist in their mindset and performance of their duty. This is the most worrisome while dealing the plight faced by the North East people at Delhi. In most of the cases, the perpetrators get out of reach because such mindset police personnel.

The women from North East India continues to face the sexual harassment, most suffer and beared silently in fear of social stigma and loosing of their carries. They face from their fellow colleagues at their work places, colleges and institutions, only a few dares to face the social stigma and the carrier challenges to come out openly and report to the police. Bearing the pain silently will encourage the perpetrators to commit more crimes, which can also be to any women irrespective of which region they belong to.

New trend of the plights faced by the people from North East India is slightly changing from sexual attack to racial attack. One having the Mongoloid feature could cost your life in India’s national capital. This has been going on for years and the government kept promising to ensure safety to the community, which will be forgotten in a day when a nation issue arises and they will come up with new promises when the crime like Nido’s repeats.

Sheila Dikshit, then the Chief Minister of Delhi has been heavily blamed for the sexual crime and racial attack on women and North East communities in Delhi. Now the ball is in the court of the staring Chief Minister Kajeriwal. The entire North East communities wait and watch, whether the Kajeriwal will give the lip service and put the promises into the reality to end the unprecedented plight of racial discrimination and sexual harassment to the men and women from North East India.

The peak of Migration from the North East region to national capital and other mega cities in search of better education and job opportunities in recently years continues and it is predicted the number will increase, which means that 200,000 North Easterners in Delhi will increase their number in near future. As the population increases, the plight of racial discrimination and sexual crimes against the men and women from North East India will likely continue.

North East Support Centre & Helpline was setup with a group of people voluntarily and they continue to render voluntary service to the victims and to the communities without any financial support from any end. To be very honest as a founding member and former Spokesperson of Helpline, it is very difficult and demanding task. Now, the student bodies from different states of North East India and tribes have come forward to fight together. All sections of the society must come together to end the plight faced by the people from North East India.

How do we handle and attempt to bring to the end?

First, the most important, there is an urgent need to bring a law and policy to tackle the problem of racial discrimination. Repeated assurance by the government without adopting any specific policy and enacting any law has been the lip service for the government and law enforcing agencies. In order to bring a suitable policy and enact a law dealing the racial attack and discrimination, the Union and Delhi government must invite social scientist, experts and social workers from North East India and others to conduct a series of consultation to help drafting the bill.

Second, the silent spectators of North Eastern state governments on the plights faced their people in national capital and other mega cities. All the states must adopt a collective policy otherwise in their state level to end the plights faced by their people. Unfortunately and in spite of repeated appealed to all North Eastern states to come up with a plan and policy dealing the crisis faced by their people in mega cities, but it has been not dumped so far.

Third, the perpetrators do not differentiate the differences between North Eastern states or communities or tribes, when they plan to attack men and assault women. But the response is to encounter the attack and assault depend on the tribe or community or the state the victims belong. This has been the struggle for North East Support Centre & Helpline. One can turn off from one and turn on to other. A collective effort is the need of the hour.

Four, silent suffers must break out. Keeping silent when one is attacked or taken sexual advantage, it must be reported to the Grievance Cell at the work places, which is a mandatory as per the directive from Supreme Court of India. The offender will only take advantage of you when you keep silent and they will take advantage from others as well.

Madhu Chandra is one of the founding member and former Spokesperson of North East Support Centre & Helpline. He is currently based at Kakching, Manipur.

Central Universities discriminate the most against the STs in the recruitment: 101 crimes were committed every day against SCs and STs during 2001 to 2012

Central Universities discriminate the most against the STs in the recruitment:

101 crimes were committed every day against SCs and STs during 2001 to 2012

New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in its report, “India’s Unfinished Agenda for Inclusion: A study on denial of reservation to the tribals in the government services and posts” (http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/UnfinishedAgenda.pdf) released today stated that the Scheduled Tribes (STs) are the most deprived in the government employment. As of 8 May 2013, the maximum number of backlog vacancies with the Central Government was 12,195 posts for the STs, followed by 8,332 posts for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and 6,961 posts for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Central Universities discriminate the most:

“According to information provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under the Right to Information Act, the representation of the STs in the post of professors has come down from 3.88% (46 STs against total of 1,187 professors) in 2006-07 to 0.24% (4 STs against total sanctioned posts of 1,667 professors) in 2010-11; from 1.03% (18 STs against total of 1,744 Readers) in 2006-2007 to 0.32% (10 STs against total sanctioned posts of 3,155 Readers) in 2010-11 in the post of Readers; and from 4.43% (129 STs against total of 2,914 Lecturers) in 2006-07 to 3.63% (193 STs against total posts of 5,317) in 2010-11 in the post of Lecturers. In fact, there is better representation of the STs in the top echelons of the Central Government of India than in the Central universities. During 2010-11, at the level of the Secretary to the Central Government, the representation of the STs was 2.68% while representation of the STs at the level of Professor in the Central Universities was mere 0.24%. During the same period, at the level of the Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary to the Government of India, the combined representation of the STs was 2.5% while the representation of the STs at the level of Readers in the Central Universities was mere 0.32%.”- stated the study.

“The data provided by the UGC shows that India’s higher educational institutions remain the most casteist, possibly a reflection of the opposition to the reservation policy.” – stated Mr Suhas Chakma , Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights.

Parliamentary panel's order for inquiry into the CBDT's refusal to promote the STs: 

The officials holding positions of power on appointments in the posts and services of the government have adopted certain modus operandi to deprive the STs and others’ access to the reserved seats. The posts in the reserved seats are kept vacant for certain years, and later dereserved on the ground of public interest as “no suitable candidates found” even if many ST and other reserved category candidates meet all the eligibility criteria for the specific posts. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in its Twenty Fourth Report titled “Reservation for and employment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)” presented before the Parliament on 26 November 2012 noted “every year a good number of SC/ST candidates qualify the examination for promotion but only handful are promoted” by the CBDT and “despite having SC/ ST candidates who are eligible for promotion posts, the CBDT has been depriving these candidates of rightful promotion.” While rejecting the contention of the Finance Ministry about “non-availability of eligible candidates is the major reason for backlog”, the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended that “an enquiry should be initiated for such cases in various Directorates to determine the reasons for keeping promotion posts vacant despite availability of SC/ST candidates, who have already qualified in the examination for promotion”.

101 crimes commited daily against SCs and STs during 2001 to 2012: The National Crime Records Bureau

“The caste system is the root cause of economic, social and political exclusion and the reservation policy is an attempt to ensure inclusion of those who from time immemorial have been excluded and subjected to violence. However, there is no improvement of the situation. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 4,40,691 crimes were committed against the SCs and the STs from 2001 to 2012. This implies at least 101 crimes were committed every day against the SCs and the STs during the same period. The figures of the NCRB are only tip of the iceberg as most crimes against the SCs and the STs are not reported to and/or registered by the police. That the Rajya Sabha passed the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2013 only on 7th September 2013 reflects how far away India is from addressing caste specific tasks and caste based discrimination.”- further stated Mr Chakma.

Lamenting the Supreme Court, Asian Centre for Human Rights stated “A string of Supreme Court rulings against reservation including in the case of Indra Sawhney Vs Union of India assume that untouchability has indeed been done away with following its abolition as per Article 17 of the Constitution of India, and there is no caste bias among the people in India. More fundamentally, these judgements overlook and undermine extraordinary level of caste violence as reflected in the data of the NCRB.”

Justifying the reservation policy, ACHR stated,  “Without reservation, the SCs and the STs, who are not allowed to enter houses and villages of the dominant castes, not to mention about the temples and other public places even today, would not have had access to educational institutions, government employment, State Assemblies and parliament; and India surely would have remained more divided and fragmented; and the existence of the country would have been more at risks in the face of violence and conflict as a direct consequence of caste based discrimination and exclusion”.

Asian Centre for Human Rights recommended to the Government of India to (1) centrally maintain details of vacancy position in respect of reserved posts and details of backlog vacancies and direct the Liaison Officers appointed in each Ministry/Department to update the same every three months in the centralized website; (2) issue Office Memorandum by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the  Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions instructing each Ministry/Department to provide that reserved seats for the SCs, the STs and others cannot be dereserved under any circumstances; (3) issue Office Memorandum by the DoPT instructing each Ministry/Department to provide that no reserved seat can be kept vacant on the “ground of no suitable candidates found” if any SC/ST candidate fulfill the basic eligibility criteria for the specific post; and further for keeping a particular post vacant, prior permission be sought from the concerned authorities, among others, by providing details of qualification of each candidate vis-a-vis the eligibility criteria in the previous recruitment process;(4) direct the Human Resources Development Ministry to launch special drives for recruitment of the STs and other reserved categories in the Central Universities and other higher educational institutions run and/or aided by the Government of India; and (5) amend the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to include non-filling up of reserved seats despite availability of candidates from the SCs and the STs meeting the eligibility criteria as an offence under the Act. [Ends]

"$peed money" / Corruption Puts Brakes on India's Retail Growth

"$peed money"(Corruption) Puts Brakes on India's Retail Growth
By Nandita Bose
MUMBAI | Mon May 6, 2013 1:05pm IST

Customers exit a V-Mart retail store in New Delhi April 6, 2013. Picture taken April 6, 2013.
REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
(Reuters) - Hong-Kong entrepreneur Ramesh Tainwala spent 18 months operating branded clothing retail stores in India before deciding it was impossible to succeed without paying bribes.
Tainwala, a 55-year-old expatriate Indian, owns Planet Retail, which held the India franchise rights for U.S. fashion labels Guess and Nautica as well as UK retailers Next and Debenhams. He sold the brands last September to various Indian businesses.

"Right now it's not possible to do business in India without greasing palms, without paying bribes," said Tainwala, who is also luggage maker Samsonite's president for Asia Pacific and West Asia. Tainwala said he himself refused to pay bribes to licensing officials, though that could not be independently confirmed.
India is the next great frontier for global retailers, a $500 billion market growing at 20 percent a year. For now, small shops dominate the sector. Giants from Wal-Mart Stores Inc to IKEA AB have struggled merely for the right to enter, which they finally won last year.
But a daunting array of permits - more than 40 are required for a typical supermarket selling a range of products - force retailers to pay so-called "speed money" through middlemen or local partners to set up shop.
In interviews with middlemen and several retailers, Reuters found the official cost for key licenses is typically accompanied by significant expenses in the form of bribes. The added cost erodes profitability in an industry where margins tend to be razor-thin. It also creates risk for companies by making them complicit in activity that, while commonplace in India and other emerging markets, is nonetheless illegal.
That creates a handicap for foreign operators such as U.S.-based Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, and Britain's Tesco Plc and Marks and Spencer Plc, which must comply with anti-bribery laws in their home countries even while operating abroad.
A Wal-Mart spokesperson said the company is strengthening its compliance programs, part of a global compliance review that has cost more than $35 million over the last 18 months. IKEA, which is awaiting final approval to enter India, has started assessing the market, a spokeswoman said, adding the group has "zero tolerance" for corruption in any form.

"HARASSED FOR MONEY"
Retail is especially prone to bribery because stores sell multiple types of merchandise, which in India increases the number of licenses and permits needed - a legacy of the so-called "Licence Raj" that was largely dismantled during the country's early 1990s economic reforms.
The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business survey ranks India 173rd out of 185 countries when it comes to starting a business, behind Malawi, Niger, Sudan and Guatemala. Transparency International in 2012 ranked it 94th out of 174 countries on its corruption table - a fall from 72nd five years earlier.
"Even for a simple thing like putting up signage in front of your store you are harassed for money," said Tainwala. "There are many bodies regulating that and the permits needed to set up one shop are baffling."
The License Raj, he said, substantially increases costs in a market where sluggish consumer demand, high rentals and a depreciating currency for over a year have made it hard for retailers like him to operate profitably. He plans to return when there is more order in the way business is done.
Ais Kumar, head of the western region for the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSA), acknowledged that graft exists across government ranks and departments. Many government departments also have staff shortages that cause delays.
"These licenses are required for compliance and safety and not because the government wants to delay or complicate things for anyone. It's the law of the land and it must be followed," he said, adding the government is striving to put licensing systems online to streamline the process and make it more transparent. Checks with three retailers, however, showed the online forms still need to be physically delivered to the respective licensing departments.

UNDER THE TABLE
Permits needed to open a store range from the mundane, such as a trade license, to the petty: lighted shelves require a separate permit, and even a shop window needs a license.
Want to play music in the store? That requires a license. So does selling cosmetics or providing valet parking.
A convenience store that sells basics such as milk, vegetables, cereal, bread, eggs, meat and baby food will require a minimum of 29 licenses from nearly 20 different authorities, according to a list of licenses compiled by the Retailers Association of India and obtained by Reuters.
Those include a food license; a license for sale, storage and distribution; a food-handler's certificate; a license for milk products and another for frozen non-vegetarian food. All those licenses comes from the state-level FSSA, but require separate applications.
But the FSSA does not give permission for operating freezers and chillers. That requires a separate license from a municipal body. Selling baby food requires a permit from a state Controller of Food and Supply. The state Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee must give permission to sell vegetables; the central Directorate of Marketing and Inspection gives permission to grade and sort those vegetables; the Controller of Rationing grants licenses for selling essential commodities like rice.
All those licenses need to be renewed, sometimes annually.
The Directorate of Marketing and Inspection declined comment, while the other departments were not available.
Most of the licenses required can either be done away with completely or combined into one, said Lalit Agarwal, chairman of V-Mart Retail. "Every day, you have new licenses added to the list, but nothing ever gets deleted."
It's not just the red tape of getting those licenses, it's also the under-the-table money that retailers typically have to pay on top of the official fees.
In Bandra, a high-end suburb of Mumbai, a state-issued trade license for a 10,000-sq ft (930 sq meter) store - very large by Indian standards - officially costs US $ 800. But there is an "additional charge" of US $20,000, according to documents obtained by Reuters from the Employee State Insurance, Provident Fund and Industrial Law Practitioners Association of India (EPILPA), which assist retailers in obtaining permits.
EPILPA said their members, who are consultants, collect the "speed money" from retailers and pass it on to the government officials. They act as middlemen who do not take a cut and hence should not be held responsible for the bribes being paid.
"In India, you don't need to ask retailers if you need to pay bribes," said Punit Agarwal, CEO of Promart, a mid-sized multi-brand clothing retailer. "It's known. Here you have a price tag for everything."
He said his company hires middlemen and pays their fees because he knows bribes have to be paid, but does not want his company to get directly involved.
SPEED MERCHANTS
Middlemen sell speed. They provide access to government officers who can sign off on permits as soon as they are paid. The middleman negotiates the bribes, thus keeping company officials from being directly involved.
Take the case of British footwear retailer Clarks. It entered India through a partnership with Future Group, which runs the country's largest listed retail entity, Future Retail. Clarks has hired consultants and, according to one of them, is negotiating with municipal officials for a 365-day license that would allow it to open three of its five stores in Mumbai every day of the year.
For each of the three stores, the company was asked to pay US $1,100 per officer for the eight officers involved in its case - a total of US $9,000 per store, said Oovesh Sarabhai, of Atlas AVA Consultants, who is working with Clarks to secure the licenses. The official fee is about US $ 110 per store, he said.
The government officials involved in issuing the license declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Future and Clarks declined to comment.
A senior Clarks official, who declined to be identified, confirmed the company had applied for a 365-day license for the three Mumbai stores in January 2012 and received notifications from the government related to this, but has so far failed to receive the licenses. "It's stuck because of the bureaucracy," the official said.
No high-level official dealing with licenses ever accepts a bribe directly, said Raichand Jiwani, owner of Emkay Consultancy Services, who is a member of EPILPA and helps several top Indian retailers to procure licenses. Officials use subordinates to collect the money and only from trusted people. The payment is then shared by junior and senior officers and up the bureaucratic chain.
"The nexus runs far deeper than just a few corrupt officials at the local level," said Jiwani, noting that if a retailer approaches an official directly he will not be told about the bribe, but his papers will take months to be approved.
IS INDIA WORTH IT?
While India holds vast promise for retailers, with its growing spending power and rising middle class, most local supermarket chains lose money due to low prices, poor supply chains and high rents. Wal-Mart has said it aims to turn a profit in 10 years, something it hasn't managed in China after 12 years.
Tainwala thinks India offers miniscule retail returns for the massive investment of time and energy that is needed. Fast expansion requires paying speed money, he said.
Tainwala recalls he was asked to pay either a US $ 400 monthly fee to have signage outside his store in Mumbai's plush Atria mall, or a US $ 40 bribe every month to circumvent it. He said he chose to pack up rather than bribe the municipal officials needed to get his signs approved.
"My people said we have to close the stores, and we decided to do that," he said. "You get excited about the Indian middle class but then you wonder - is it really worth it?"
(Editing by Tony Munroe, Bill Tarrant and Ian Geoghegan)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/05/06/india-retail-idINDEE94402K20130506